Evidencing the record-breaking economic impact of Rugby World Cup 2015

Research carried out by Goodform in the wake of Rugby World Cup 2015 has informed a new report on the economic impact of the Tournament, published by Ernst & Young.

Rugby World Cup 2015 was, according to World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset, “the most competitive, best-attended, most watched, most socially-engaged, most commercially-successful Rugby World Cup”, and the fifth largest single-sport event of all time. Having been appointed as retained CRM and research partner for the Tournament in 2012, Goodform’s work did not stop when Richie McCaw lifted the trophy.

With the need to evidence the economic impact of the Tournament in mind, Goodform distributed a survey to all international residents on the Tournament database, The Front Row, in order to capture key information from international visitors to the UK during the Tournament.

Via an online survey which received an impressive 11,111 responses, Goodform explored international fan visits to the UK during the Tournament and their behaviour and spend whilst in the country.

Key statistics included in the economic impact report are derived from this crucial research piece, including the length of stay in the UK, the cities visited, and spend on areas such as food & drink, accommodation, shopping, entertainment and activities.

The research also highlighted extremely positive views of the UK and the Tournament from international fans, as EY’s report highlights: 72% scored their experience of the Tournament as 9 or 10 out of 10, with 69% describing themselves as ‘extremely likely’ to return to the UK in the future.

Speaking of the research, Peter Arnold, Director of Ernst & Young’s Economic Advisory, said, “Goodform’s research enabled us to evidence the economic contribution made by international visitors during the Tournament. Goodform’s market research expertise ensured that the survey provided invaluable data from a very robust number of international visitors. This data underpins many of the report’s key findings, from the number of nights visitors stayed to their likelihood to return in the future. Crucially, we were also able to use the data from the research to derive overall international visitor spend, and the impact on individual host cities.”

Alexandra Kyrke-Smith, Head of Research & Insight at Goodform, added, “The fantastic response rate to this survey is illustrative of what an engaged database The Front Row was, driven by high levels of personalisation and the use of dynamic emails to target relevant information. This research piece was a fantastic project, reaching residents of over 100 countries, and we’re delighted to see the data from our report underpinning so much of EY’s publication.”

You can download Ernst & Young’s full report at http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/163399